A Rose By Any Other Name
by RossoRose
Summary: Reid/OC - A series of murders around the East area bring the team to Washington DC. While the investigation goes on, Spencer Reid has a chance meeting with a vivacious woman that blossoms into something more.
1. Chapter 1

**"To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved." – George MacDonald**

Spencer woke with a start as a splitting migraine took over him. He buried his head under the duvet hoping the darkness would sooth the pain; it didn't. The agony intensified when his phone burst into life on the cabinet next to his bed. The sound of the vibrations against the wood sounded like someone was drilling into his head. It meant only one thing – a new case. He summoned all his strength to grab his phone and read the message, closing one eye as though it helped relieved the pressure from the glaring screen. He was right. Garcia had sent a message indicating a case had arrived and he was to be there within the hour.

Praying the migraine would subside over time he ducked back under the duvet. The pain lessened slightly but it hadn't gone completely. He doubted it ever would. He knew statistically he was at the right age for schizophrenia traits to begin to show, migraines being one of them. That worry kept him at night and he was starting to lose focus. If he carried on it wouldn't be long before they take away his badge.

Glancing at the clock he realised he only had half an hour to make it. He jumped in the shower, the warm water somewhat helping, and threw his clothes on. Grabbing his satchel and go bag he was out the door well within time. It was only 5:00am but the dawn light already hurt.

He managed to get to work on time, settling himself down in one of the conference rooms chairs before the others joined him. Garcia was the last to arrive, handing him a manila case file as the rest of the team opened the relevant pages on their tablets. Technology was not something he trusted – what was wrong with the old fashioned paper way? It was far more reliable in his opinion. A quick glance through the files told him that they already had four victims around the North East area of America. No specific location told him that this was going to be a difficult case.

"Good morning my lovelies," Garcia exclaimed as the images of the four victims appeared on the screen behind her. "We have received a request from the Washington State Police Department to help on a recent case. Three nights ago James Harbridge was found strangled in his hotel room at the Washington Plaza Hotel. The police had an instant hit with one of the fingerprints on the door knob, linking it to three other cases – Matthew Young, found dead in his hotel at the Hilton Inn, Philadelphia 2 weeks ago; Gregory Prince at the DoubleTree in Manhattan 4 weeks ago and finally Simon Grange at the Marriot in Newark 5 weeks ago." As Garcia spoke the picture of each victim appeared on the screen. They all appeared to be quite handsome men in their mid 30's but there wasn't a striking resemblance between any of them. That ruled out any theories of a killer after a specific target.

"Here's the icky part," Garcia continued, "all of them had their left ring finger removed." The screen flashed to show four almost identical photos of the victim's hands. All of them had had their ring finger removed just above the knuckle.

"A trophy?" Morgan inquired to the group. "Were these men married?"

Garcia quickly taped away on her laptop bringing up their marriage certificates and bank records, "Yes, all the victims were married and had been staying the hotels on business. James was due to give a presentation at the Washington Academy of Science tomorrow."

"If all of the men were staying at the hotels on business, is there anything that links from their home address?" Emily asked, glancing through the information she had been provided with on her tablet.

"I ran all the information I could before you arrived this morning and nothing matches between them. They all come from different towns, even different states. I couldn't find one link other than two of them shopped at Walmart last week. And it wasn't the same one I assured you," Garcia tapped away on her keyboard again looking for any shred of a connection between the victims.

Hotch stood up and began to issue the orders for the day "Rossi and Prentiss, I want you to go and interview the last victims wife. The police have confirmed that she staying locally to identify the body once we have gathered all the evidence. Morgan, Reid – I want you two to visit the last crime scene and see what information you can get. Speak to the staff, ask any of the guests if they heard anything. JJ, I'd like you to come with me and review the previous case files with the police department."

With that everyone got to their feet and began to move, following the instructions of their Commanding Chief. Reid hadn't noticed everyone's departure and was still engrossed with reading the case file. The removal of the ring finger was a definite signature and was enough to link all four victims to the same unsub, he just couldn't work out why. There was no way a geographical profile would work in this scenario.

"Hey kid, are you coming or what? We're not going to achieve much staring at the pictures all day," Morgan shouted to him from the doorway.

"That's not actually true; there was a case in 1976 that was cracked from one agent reviewing the images of the victims. It was in …"

"Come on kid, you can tell me all about it in the car, but right now we need to get moving before the hotel start clearing the room."

Spencer knew he wouldn't be continuing his story in the car.

He hadn't realised how bright it had gotten outside. The 7:00am sunrise seemed to trigger his migraine again, causing him to hiss in pain and grip his head. Morgan turned round, a concerned looked on his face as he took in the scene.

"Reid? Reid! Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," he glanced at Morgan's expression, instantly knowing he was not buying his lie, "I woke up with a migraine and the light must have set it off. It's starting to go now honestly. Let's get just get going." With that he yanked the door handle of the SUV and jumped in the passenger seat. Grabbing his sunglasses from his satchel he placed them over his eyes, shielding them somewhat from the harsh sunlight.

Morgan slid into the driver's seat carefully closing the driver side door so not to hurt Reid's head anymore. He knew better than to push it with Reid, giving him time to think and talk about whatever was bothering him in his own time. The 45 minute drive was spent in an uncomfortable silence. Reid stared out of the window, completely unfocused and worrying about his headaches. He barely noticed when they pulled up in the car park outside the hotel. It was only when he heard Morgan shut his door that he too climbed out of the SUV. Following Morgan into the hotel, the dim lights inside allowed him some relief and he removed his sunglasses. Taking in his surrounding he noticed that although nice, the hotel was not special. No way was it a five star establishment; probably four at best. The furniture in the lobby was basic but nice.

Morgan made his way to the reception desk, flashing a dazzling white smile at the pretty blonde reception. The reception in question giggled slightly at the no doubt flirtatious comment that Morgan had sent her way and pointed to the lifts. Spencer hated lifts.

Having little choice but to join Morgan he stepped in. "You know you're gonna have to talk about it at some point." Morgan was getting fed up with the attitude today. It wasn't like Spencer to be like this.

"There's nothing to talk about. Please just drop it" Spencer replied. He was getting fed up with the constant attention he was receiving from the team – the looks, the whispers that stopped as neared them. He just needed to deal with his thoughts on his own terms.

They arrived at the crime scene and began to look around. There didn't appear to be any sign of a break in or a struggle. Morgan was first to comment. "We're obviously looking for strong male. There is no way he could control the victims on his own he wasn't. There doesn't appear to be any signs of a struggle so they couldn't fight back much."

"I don't think it could be more than one. The doors all have peep holes on them. No one would answer the door to two intimating men stood outside." Spencer replied.

"Yeah but why answer it to one?"

"Maybe the unsub had a generic uniform of some description. Something to help him blend in? Could we get Garcia to pull the CCTV footage?" Spencer said as he began to examine the belt the victim had been strangled with.

Morgan flipped his phone up dialing the number, "Hey baby girl. I need you to get the CCTV footage from the hotel for the night that James Harbidge was murdered. Thanks my angel."

Spencer pulled the manila file from his satchel and began to read the notes. "The TV was on when the staff and police arrived. Maybe that was used to drown out any noise?"

"I don't think this room can give us anymore clues then we have already. Lets head to reception see if we can talk to the staff who found him." Reid followed Morgan out the room, glancing round to commit it memory should he need it again.

The lift ride down was filled with uncomfortable silence again until Morgan spoke up. "Listen, I've had enough of this attitude. We only want to help you kid. Now why won't you just tell us what's happening and let us help you. We're all worried." The lift binged to signal they had arrived on the ground floor.

"because it's none of your damned business," with that Spencer shot out of the lift and headed straight to the front door of the hotel. He barged his way past the hotel guests milling around, causing one woman to fall and her coffee to spill down her shirt.

Spencer mumbled an apology, not ever glancing back to see if the woman in question was ok. He had to get out of there and he had to get out now. He felt so claustrophobic with all the thoughts going round in his head.

Morgan ran over to the lady and helped her up. "I am terribly sorry about my colleague ma'am. Are you ok, would you like me to get you another a coffee? I'll cover your dry cleaning costs."

The woman got to her feet with the aid of Morgan. She stood at about 5'8" in her heels. She was very pretty; couldn't have been older than 26. She glanced down at her ruined white shirt and groaned. Typical. She was already running late. Pulling the wet fabric away from her skin to alleviate some of the pain from the hot liquid she looked up at man who had come to her rescue.

"There's no need honestly. I guess these things just happen. Especially when you don't want them to happen! I'll run upstairs and get changed." She began to turn around and head back towards the lift.

"At the very least let me replace your coffee ma'am" Morgan shouted to her retreating form.

She faced him giving him a small smile. "It's Rose, and a coffee would be fantastic thank you."

"I'll have it waiting at reception when you come back down".

With that Rose turned and entered the lift to return to her room and replace her ruined shirt.

A/N – Just an idea that I'm toying around with at the moment. Bits and bobs keep cropping into my head and I thought I'd get them onto paper. This will be a Reid/OC story and you've just met her – albeit briefly.

I'm not from the States and have very little knowledge of the areas I'm talking about. I have googled a lot but there will probably be a lot of errors. I'll call it creative license! I apologise for any typos - its quite late and I don't have a beta.

I hope you enjoyed it – I'd really appreciate your feedback.


	2. Chapter 2

Judithya88 – Damn it!No idea how I managed to make the glaring obvious Washington/Washington DC error. My only excuse is that was very late and I had been staring at Google Maps for quite some time. So sorry! Thank you very much for your feedback.

esmile89 – Thanks for your lovely review for my first chapter. I assure you I will be adding a lot more description over the coming chapters. I am based in the UK, so please be prepared for a lot of British words and sayings!

Also a big thank you to my other reviewers – I'm so happy you liked it!

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**"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend" – Albert Camus.**

Morgan was angry. It wasn't like Reid to be so inconsiderate. If he had knocked over a pretty lady usually he'd be stumbling over himself to apologise. After purchasing a second coffee for Rose and leaving it at the hotel reception desk as promised, he followed Reid outside. He found him leaning against the passenger side for the car, arms crossed in front of him. His sunglasses were perched on his nose as he bowed his head forward to stare at the floor.

"Reid, man, what the hell was that in there?"

"I told you I don't want to talk about. Can I just have a few moments alone and then I'll help," Spencer pinched the bride of his nose and counted slowly in his mind, willing the pain to go away. He didn't want to talk about it, he just wanted it gone and none of his team were medical professionals – opening up to them was not going to help anything.

"Now I know something is bothering you, and if you don't want to talk that's fine. I can wait. You'll open up to me eventually and I'll do my very best to help, but that was not what I was talking about. You barged out of that hotel like a bull in a china shop."

"I just need some air, that's all"

"I get it. I don't think the pretty woman you sent flying gets it though"

That got his attention. Spencer glanced up at Morgan trying to determine whether the older agent was in fact telling the truth. He didn't remember knocking anyone over. He would have stayed and helped if he had. Had he been that focused on getting outside and away from the conversation that hadn't noticed. The look on Morgan's face told Spencer all he needed to know.

"I'm sorry. I just needed to get away. Is she okay?"

Morgan decided to let the kid off the hook. He could see something was troubling him which he was sure he'd find out about eventually. He was obviously concerned.

"She was fine kid. Her shirt may be ruined and she could have some minor burns but …"

"Burns?"

"The coffee she was carrying took a tumble with her. All down her nice white shirt."

Spencer sighed. Not only had he knocked someone to the floor, he managed to give them 1st degree burns too. He knew today wouldn't go well when he woke up with the crippling migraine.

"I should apologise" Spencer needed to find the woman and apologise to help his conscience settle. He couldn't believe he'd not noticed.

"I got it man. I replaced her coffee and offered to pay to have her shirt dry cleaned," Morgan took in the sight of the younger agent, obviously concerned over his actions, "Which reminds me, you owe me $4.75 for the replacement coffee."Just as he finished his sentence with a grin, his phone began to buzz in his pocket. "Morgan." Spencer could only hear one side of the conversation, "Yeah we'll be there in 20".

"Come on kid, Hotch wants us at the station. They've just found something new."

Spencer climbed back into the SUV when a figure walking past the front of the car caught his eye. She was beautiful. There really wasn't any other way to describe her. He couldn't get his brain to function; like Prentiss had told him, IQ of over 180 to 60 all because a pretty girl walked by. She had the most gorgeous auburn hair he'd ever seen, large curled locks shining in the early morning light. Her makeup, if any, was minimal accentuating her features in a way that made his breath catch in his throat. Her green eyes sparkled as she glanced round, her full pink lips curling into a confused pout. She was obviously on her way to work. The black shirt she wore hugged her hourglass figure perfectly, while the red pencil skirt seemed to have been created solely for her. It molded to her body and legs like a second skin.

Her confusion lifted when a taxi pulled up in front of her. She opened the door and slid in, her skirt riding up her thigh in the process. Spencer was raised a gentleman and should of adverted his eyes but he just couldn't. Morgan glanced at him before following his gaze, determined to see what had gripped the young agent's attention so thoroughly. He grinned when he saw that it was in fact a woman – the woman to be precise.

"Ah, there she is now; the lovely Rose."

Spencer reluctantly tore his gaze away from the retreating taxi to look at Morgan, confusion etched on his features as he struggled to understand who Rose was.

"The little lady you sent flying earlier this morning." Morgan looked at the disbelieving face of Spencer Reid. That's who he knocked to the floor. For a genius he could be pretty stupid. He couldn't quite believe he'd left her on the floor, covered in boiling hot coffee. "You really don't remember huh pretty boy? Luckily I was there to help; couldn't leave a damsel in distress"

Spencer stayed quiet contemplating the information, trying to come up with a way to apologise as Mrogan set the SUV into drive and headed towards the station. His phone began to buzz in his pocket, tearing his thoughts away from Rose.

"Reid,"

"Well hello my fellow genius. I ran the CCTV like you asked and got zip. The only camera on the floor is located at the lift and I have nothing suspicious around the time of the murder. A couple of tourists and one obvious hooker but other than that, nothing. I checked the lobby and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary but I sent the footage to Morgan's tablet for you to review. There aren't any cameras in the staff only areas so maybe he used them?"

"Thanks Garcia," he was just about ready to hang up when a thought occurred to him. He paused for breath, a slight blush already creeping up his cheeks at the request he was about to make. "C-could you possibly pull up the guest records for the Washington Plaza Hotel for last night?" He could feel Morgan's eyes shift towards him but daren't look, instead he kept his eyes firmly on the road ahead of them.

"Oh please, I thought it would be something challenging," He could hear Garcia tapping away on her keyboard as she talked to him, "Right, Washington Plaza Hotel. I have 367 guests staying last night. Am I looking for anyone in particular?"

Spencer cleared his throat slightly, the blush burning his face as it crept higher up his cheeks. "Could you pull up any records for a Rose?" He heard Morgan chuckle and briefly glanced in his direction. The man in question had was grinning and shaking his head. This was embarrassing but he couldn't think of any other way to make it up to the beautiful woman he had accosted that morning.

"I have two ladies named Rose staying at the hotel last night. Rose Horn, 46 from Cincinnati staying for 5 nights or a Rose Johnson, 25 from Harrisburg staying for 4; both checked in yesterday."

"Johnson. Could you possibly pull up a picture?"

"No problemo amigo!" Garcia took a few seconds to pull up the picture of the woman in question. "Wow. She's pretty. Red head?"

"Y-yes that sounds like her. Erm, could you possibly tell me what room she's staying in?" he wanted the ground to swallow him up as Morgan's chuckles grew. Why had he thought this would be a good idea?

"Room 368. Why'd you ask my lovely?"

"Just erm, just needed it for the case. I have to go now we're almost at the station." He hung quickly to avoid any further embarrassing questions from the Tech Analysis.

"And just what do you plan to do with the information pretty boy?"

Spencer thought for a moment. What did he plan to do with the information? It would be too forward of him to go to her room and apologise. Maybe a gift?

"I really don't know." He was genuinely stumped. He ran through his memory trying to pull any information he thought might be useful in this situation but came up blank. He really should read more romantic literature; surely that would inspire him.

Morgan pulled the car into the station car park and looked at the nervous wreck that was Spencer Reid. He man hunted rapists, murders and terrorists for a living and never batted an eyelid; a pretty girl walks by and he turns into a fool. He decided to put the kid out of his misery and help.

"Listen, we passed a florist a block back. Why don't you send your pretty girl some flowers? The ladies lover that."

Flowers. That seemed perfect. Why hadn't his genius brain managed to figure that one out on its own? "Thanks Morgan. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"No problem kid. I'd go with Lilies. She seemed like the lily type."

"You can tell that just from looking at her?"

"Hey, we're all at genius at something." And with that Morgan flashed Spencer his signature grin and turned to enter the station.

He stood there for a moment as if glued to the floor. He'd never done anything like this before and didn't know why he should start now. Surely a nice handwritten note would be better than flowers. He thought flowers held some romantic connotations. He didn't even know the woman.

Deciding to trust Morgan's advice he headed towards the florists they had passed. The bell chimed as he entered the shop, his nose picking up the scent of all the pristine flowers available in the shop. He was immediately out of his comfort zone. He had read books on horticulture but he felt this wouldn't help him now as they were mainly used in scientific research. Lillies. That's all he had to remember. He walked to counter and waited. An older woman approached him asking what it is he'd like.

"I was wondering if I could get a bouquet of flowers sent to the Washington Plaza Hotel?"

"Certainly young man," she grabbed a note pad and began to write her notes, "What room number?"

"Erm its," He had to search his memory for the number Garcia had provided him with. He could tell he was not himself today, usually the number would have appeared straight away. 368. That was it! "Room 368."

The woman jotted down the number and the name which Spencer has provided to her. "And what can I get for you? Rose's for a Rose or perhaps something different?"

"I was t-thinking more along the lines of … lilies?"

"Wonderful choice! We have some Asiatic lilies in stock? Or perhaps Calla lilies? The Stargazer lilies are always a popular choice." She paused, waiting for the young man in front of her to input to the conversation.

Choice? God he didn't think it would be this difficult. He could feel himself blushing again. This was an awkward situation and he wanted out. "The last one. The stargazers."

"I'll have a bouquet made up and sent for you today sir. There are some cards by the counter if you'd like to fill one in? I'll put it in with the flowers."

Spencer made his way over to a small rotating stand on the counter and picked a plain card. Grabbing a pen out of his satchel he scribbled his message.

_From the jerk who bumped into you this morning._

_I can't apologise enough._

He thought it best to leave it at that and remove himself from the shop as soon as possible. Placing the card in the envelope he had a quick thought; digging inside his satchel he pulled out one of his business cards and placed that inside the envelope too before sealing it and handing it the florist.

He quickly paid and left the shop, heading to the station to carrying on with the investigation. Around 15 steps down the block the realization hit him. He had put his business card in the envelope. That contained all his information. What if she rang him? What would he say? Had he been too presumptuous? A million thoughts flickered through Spencer's mind, racing around. Was it too late to run back and remove his business card? He didn't know if he could face the embarrassment of going back in.

No, he quickly decided. He would leave the card there. Hopefully she wouldn't use it. Hopefully she would. He couldn't think straight. Spencer entered the police station and tried to put all thoughts of Rose and her reactions out of his mind for the time being.

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A/N I don't feel this is as good as my first chapter – maybe I only write my best after midnight when I could fall asleep on my keyboard! Please let me know what you think. I'm not overly happy with it so I may rework it slightly, but the plot is there! 2 chapters in one weekend to make up for the fact that I will be quiet till next weekend!

Thank you! Any feedback will be greatly appreciated :-)


	3. Chapter 3

Krikanalo – Thank you so much for your comment! I took on board what you said about it being dialogue heavy and tried to make this chapter a little similar to the first one in terms of writing.

Spirtofawatergoddess – I'm glad I got you smiling! Your review made me smile! I hope you've figured it out now and will share :-)

Thanks as well to my other reviewers! I love seeing a new email flash up to say I have a review. Makes it all worth it! I apologise in advance that this is a tad shorter than my other chapters – it's been a long week and the bottle of the wine in fridge keeps calling me!

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"Based on the lack of decomposition and the location in which it was found I would say that this is our latest victims missing appendage. Also note the tan line; this would suggest the victims wedding ring has been taken by the unsub." Spencer examined the finger through the bag, turning it over gently to obtain any further evidence before if went for DNA testing. On the underside of the finger there appeared to be a marking though it was difficult to see through the mud and blood.

"Hey guys," he shouted to the rest of his team, "I think there's something carved into the skin."

The rest of the team assembled around him as he gently rubbed the finger through the bag, hoping to remove the dirt to see what was underneath.

MINE

It was there for all to see; carved delicately into the victim's finger. He didn't know what to make of it. He started to think up potential reasons for the sudden change. The unsub had never left a piece of evidence before that had been found, and they hadn't seen any carvings in the victim's skin before now either. "He's escalating."

The evidence was removed from the team to undergo forensic testing to confirm whether or not the finger did indeed belong to James Harbridge. Without another crime scene and victim to investigate, the case had gone cold for now. The team decided to work with the evidence they had already acquired in an attempt to crack the case. Whilst Spencer sat working on his geographical profile, Hotch and Rossi continued to examine the crime scene photos. Both of them were hoping in vain that they had missed a vital part. Morgan was talking to Garcia as she continued to run background checks on all of the victims and hotel staff to try and find a connecting link. JJ and Prentis were discussing the case with some of the original first responders, trying to talk them through the scene for anything that could have been missed.

It was shortly after 8 in the evening when Hotch looked up from the photos. He admired his team's efforts to work with what little they had so far but could see the cracks starting to appear; they were all tired.

"Everyone rest up – I want to tackle this case tomorrow with fresh eyes. Meet back at the station in the morning at 7." He dismissed the group for the night, all climbing into shared SUV's for the drive back to Quantico. As Spencer was driven home that night by Morgan and JJ, his mind processed the information of the day. He knew there was nothing else to investigate, nothing more to read, no more pictures to examine until further evidence was obtained. He knew deep down what this meant; another victim.

It was this part of the job he hated the most. The waiting. He knew there was someone out there committing these horrific acts to normal members of society. Someone who felt no remorse for their actions. Even with his phenomenal intellect he still couldn't understand what made a person want to kill another innocent soul.

He sat in silence processing his thoughts as the others in the car discussed the case. The others threw cautious glances his way but didn't question it. They knew there was something wrong with their youngest agent but also knew that he would open up when he felt the time was ready. That was the benefit of being a family. They knew when one of them was struggling with something and how to deal with it.

JJ needed to talk about her problems with those she felt closet too. Sharing her secrets with all or select members of the team and seeking out their advice. She was the most obtuse when troubled – remaining unfocused and distant until the matter was resolved. It didn't take a profiler to see. She liked to know she had the help and support of her family when she needed it most.

Morgan got angry; lashing out at those he cared about. No one took offence to his temper and harsh words, instead they backed off and let him deal with the matter solo until he spoke up and asked for help – however rare that was.

It was the same with Spencer in some ways. It was best to leave him to fight his demons alone until he was ready to share his suffering. Instead of lashing out, Spencer remained silent and deep in thought, prone to anger only when pushed.

Spencer didn't notice the car had pulled up outside his apartment block until JJ tapped him gently on the shoulder from the back seat.

"Spence," he didn't even seem to acknowledge her until she tried again, "Spence? Are you going to be OK no your own tonight?"

As if someone had flicked a switch in his mind he was suddenly alert and grabbing his belongings together to leave the SUV.

"I'm fine JJ, honestly. I was just thinking about the case." With that he jumped out, wishing everyone a quick goodnight before rushing off to his apartment. Morgan shrugged at JJ's obvious concerned expression before putting the car into drive and continuing on with his journey. JJ glanced out of the window, her eyes following Spencer as he walked through the doors of his apartment block. She couldn't help but worry about him.

Upon entering his apartment, Spencer put on some coffee and began to unpack his satchel. He had just placed his phone on the coffee table as it burst into life. He glanced at the screen, not recognising the number.

"Reid"

"Doctor Reid?" The voice was unmistakably female.

"Y-yes"

"I wanted to thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful. You really didn't have to though, a simple apology would have sufficed," from her tone, she didn't appear to be annoyed with him. In fact, from what he could gather her voice seemed almost playful.

"It's the least I could ma'am. I can't apologise enough."

"Rose, please. I was beginning to worry how you'd tracked me down until I noticed your business card. FBI huh?"

"I-I hope you don't feel it intrusive of your privacy, I just wanted to show you how truly sorry I was," Spencer was beginning to stumble over his words. He could feel the embarrassment sinking in and wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. He knew it had been a bad idea to send his card.

"I appreciate the gesture. I hope you don't mind me calling, I just wanted to thank you and accept your apology," he knew she was bringing the conversation to a close but he couldn't bear the thought of that being the last time her heard her honey toned voice. He honestly didn't know what he was doing, it was like someone else was controlling his brain – the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Could I take you out for coffee sometime?" It was rushed; probably didn't even make sense, but he had said it. Spencer had asked the beautiful woman he saw in the car park out for a coffee. He dreaded what came next. This must be the part where she laughs and hangs up the phone. Or maybe asks him to delete her number and never contact her again. What was he thinking? That's right, he wasn't thinking. He geared himself up for the rejection, mentally whirling through all responses she might give so he had a suitable response ready. What he didn't expect was for her to accept.

"I suppose you do owe me one. How does tomorrow night at 6 sound?"

He was stumped. He didn't know how to respond. Surely he was imagining this conversation and she had hung up the moment the invitation passed his lips. He couldn't believe she'd said yes. These things only ever happened to Morgan, not him. He scrambled around to get his head into gear and managed to get out a response, albeit a minimal one. "S-sure".

"Great, I'll meet you in the hotel lobby at 6. Goodnight Doctor Reid."

"Goodnight Rose," and with that she was gone from the other end of the line. He couldn't believe he had asked her. He couldn't believe she'd accepted. He didn't know what to do now. Where should he take her? What should he say? What should he wear? He decided it was probably best to sleep on it and tackle it with a clear head in the morning.

Thoughts of the case drifted far from his mind as sleep enveloped him. Images of auburn hair and a curvaceous figure seem to flash in front of his eyes bringing a soft smile to his lips.

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A/N That's all for another chapter folks! Hope you're enjoying it! I would like to say that I watched the Bodyguard this week at the West End and got inspired by some of it – a pre warning that you may notice a few little details for those of you have seen it. They seemed to fit so perfectly with the story I have in mind.

Please keep reading and reviewing – it really does make the long hours in front of the PC screen worth it to know that you appreciate my story.


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